Hot Air Balloon Action against Kolin Group in Soma, Turkey

Activists from Greenpeace Mediterranean flew a hot air balloon over a controversial site outside Yırca village, western Turkey, where Kolin Group, one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, illegally cut down 6,000 olive trees to make room for a coal power plant over a year ago. When the balloon was airborne, the activist group released a 100 m2 banner from the balloon that said “Coal Takes Lives”. The message was visible from across the district of Soma, which is known as the site of the worst mining disaster in Turkey where more than 300 miners died. Local residents joined activists on the ground to display another banner that said, “Choose life, not coal.”